Tevez concedes title to United

Roberto Mancini's side have produced a fine effort this season, albeit on the back of some huge investment, but they have lost ground in recent weeks with a defeat against Aston Villa and draw with Birmingham.

City trail United by eight points and the leaders have a game in hand, a gap that the Argentina striker feels is insurmountable.

"I'm not happy with the last results," Tevez said. "If we want to fight for the title it is impossible to fail in matches against Aston Villa and Birmingham. To obtain only one point out of six is to concede too much advantage to rivals in the championship race. I have the experience in this aspect with Manchester United and these really are the type of matches where success is the key for the league.

"For us not to have won gives others a big advantage. Consistency is the key to becoming champions and now this is our problem.

"There are still many points left but to give an eight, nine or 10-point advantage to United is to say goodbye to our chances."